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Published: November 4th 2015
Fri: Entering Portugal Rough rough rough night!! 12 bed dorm room turned into a v%!$(MISSING)@ing vrog varm!! Huge failure on my park for not packing earplugs. I got up to go to bathroom at 3am, went back to the room and thought 'no $&@!ing way'. I grabbed my blanket, wondered around the hostel in search of a couch. The best I could do was a cheap plastic chair in the kitchen. I put my head down on the table. As uncomfortable as it was, I felt most at peace all night. I even had a flashback to the mass in Santiago. I saw the faces again and they were the ladies on the bike!! At ~5am, people started to be on the move in and out of the kitchen. I woke V up to have horrible vending machine coffee with me. We left in the darkness to catch the 6:45 bus to Santiago. I know there were other people inquiring about this bus but supposed bus stop was empty. Thankfully, a couple right behind us told us it's further out. Couple of blocks later, we saw a mob of pilgrims!
After a rough 1.5hr bus ride through windy road,
we were back to familiar place. The plan was to have lunch and catch 2pm bus to Porto. In reality, there was no 2pm bus but 12pm. We barely had time to retrieve our left luggage and grab a quick coffee, boo. It was sentimental to leave Santiago. So much anticipation and now with success in our hands (and legs), I felt a strange attachment to this place.
The next 4hrs would pose living hell for me as I relive motion sickness accompanied by cigarette smell, ugh. Thank god it didn't go full-blown. I recovered by the time we reached our lodging near ... We were starving but shower was much-needed. Maybe pack a tiny bottle of something next time... Shower was one of those corner-in-a-closet style where toilet stall and sink were all shubbed in a tiny corner space. It’s not designed for a long shower because no matter how you put the shower curtain, water leaks out. I flooded the entire bathroom for V 😞. To kick off our time in Portugal, we wanted an epic meal. We picked 'happy family diner' according to Rick S. that's a short walk. In reality, it was tourist trap-ish pretentiously
high-end restaurant. Food was good but not much authentic about that place. At least I kicked this off with vinho verde and V with Super Bock :D.
Sat: Porto for the tourists and everyday life Good morning Porto! Looks like serious storm zoomed by as the cobblestone streets were literally full of trash. Coffee & first pastel de nata at a random eatery that was open near the Clerigo tower. We hit the tower at its opening at 9am to beat the rush. 200-some step view on a gorgeous day! Tower is narrow and horrifying to imagine it with a bus-load of visitors. By the time we came out, street cleaners have done a stellar job as if nobody was here last night. We strolled via stock exchange, then to the famed Ribeira. As Rick S puts it; highest concentration of post card stands ever. Ribeira connects directly to the bridge to Vila nova de Gaia. The moment we landed on the other side of the bridge, river cruise people were already flocking us. Maybe later.
We picked Taylor's for port wine tasting because it’s the furthest and it apparently has a rooftop restaurant with a stunning
view. Climbing the cobblestone street, we arrived at 11:30 and got on the noon tour. Tour took us into not-so-big cellar with a very brief intro into port production. We hit the 12:30 opening of the rooftop restaurant and scored the seat with the view! Defintely luxurious!! The only down side was that seagulls came right up to the railing next to the table and they were pretty aggressive.
Instead of going back to Porto, we opted to go deeper into VNdG in search of lunch. Rooftop restaurant was just a snack with port with a view. But we didn't run into anything that looked right. Crowd was substantially thinner here but there has to be something that caters to the neighbors here, right? Little up on the hill from the train station, we barely spotted a cafe. We didn't know what to expect but there were people inside. It was getting close to 3pm and who knows what will be open between 4p-7p. We sat down. I felt a little awkward vibe of being a misfit here. Anyhow, we asked for a menu. "Menu...", the lady said. "Hmmm, menu..." and she walked away. Few minutes later, another lady
came speaking English with a heavy accent and told us there is only a meat dish. We said ok but V was called to take a look at the "meat dish". She said it's a pork stew typical from northern Portugal. She ensured us it’s the best but wanted to make sure we’re on board. I said just 1 order because I wasn’t hungry. She cut me off immediately and said, "believe me, you'll want more than one". She asked us what we wanted to drink. V asked if they have beer. She said "yes, but with this, no beer. You have to eat with wine, red wine". So, moments later, we had a half bottle of red and two plates of rice, fried potato slices and 5 big chunks of stewed pork!! It was a good home cooked meal. That's all they had at the odd hour of the day and they did the best to feed us. The English-speaking lady came by to check to see if we liked it. It was delicious and scrumptious. I asked her what's in it. She couldn't quite capture the ingredients in English. So she summoned me to the kitchen. Together with
the cafe lady, they showed me how to make it. In to a big pot went lard, pork chunks, onion, lemon, cumin, bay leaf, paprika and brandy. Cook for an hour and eat the next day.
VNdG had been kind. On the way back, we picked up a few fruits. Super cheap. We went up to ... And caught a view and wedding. We crossed the bridge on the upper deck. It’s awesome!
Sun: Francescinha to Coimbra fado According to the hourly forecast, it was going to be rainy everywhere except Porto. Right. We decided not to hurry out of Porto for this reason. The only remaining place to discover in Porto was Foz, a riverside town. It should be a nice trolley ride along the river. But! On the way to the trolley stop, it started sprinkling. While waiting for the trolley, sprinkle became more constant. We saw weekend running groups braving the rain. Yay runners. In Foz after a short snail trolley ride, it was raining heavy, sideways. There was no way of making it to the lighthouse. We had to take an inside street to avoid the rain slashing us from the side. We
took refuge at a bakery. It seemed that everyone else had the same idea. Bakery was pretty good! A perfect opportunity for pastel de nata of the day.
Besides port wine, francesinha is another concoction originated in Porto. The lady yesterday denied it of being a sandwich (she couldn’t have been more right). We’d seen it being served at various places but it always pays to do the homework. Many of the recommended places were closed on Sunday and our best bet was Cunha. It was a bit out of the way but we don’t compromise for these things. With the rain and the luggage, the journey to Cunha was rough. This francesinha thing’s better be amazing. Cunha is a giant food institution with a patisserie at the street corner and a huge restaurant adjacent to it. Finally, the moment of truth! A large plate held perfectly square stacked sandwich coated in smooth melted cheese, sitting on a bed of reddish sauce. When V cut into it, all kinds of pork were tightly packed inside. This reminds me of poutine but it’s not as greasy. Not bad!
We made it to the 2pm train to Coimbra. Rain was
gone by then. On our way from Coimbra station to our lodging, we signed up to see a fado show at 6pm. Before that, we still had time to check out the university. It is definitely the highlight of the city; the view, the building and the history! Even though we were in the back of the line to get into the fado show, somehow we scored the front seats. The show was definitely catered for the tourists but it was very informative, rather than gimmicky. The show ended with a port mixer 😊. We went straight to dinner at Cozinha da Maria, which was recommended by the hostel guy. We got there 10min before the opening BUT they let us choose a table from the only 2 available tables (!!) and let us wait inside to avoid the sprinkle ♥♥. Their cod and octopus dishes were spot on. I ate way too much~~
Mon: Osso (V’s carnivore temple) to Café Alcoa (my sweets temple) I had my eyes on Briosa for Coimbra’s Tentugal. Yum yum. This reminds me of Aveiro’s ovos or Spain’s yema. Ponte de Santa Clara extends directly from the square. It was getting hot
but pretty dead on this side of the river. It leads up to the convent on the hilltop. We spotted marking for Camino, although it was different from the ones we followed. Up at the convent, they had an exhibition on the pilgrims of Camino. Camino is all around us!! We made a big loop and eventually came back to Ponte Pedro e Ines. We had no idea this bridge was a must-see! Side walls were constructed with different color glass panels creating interesting and pretty shadows. Lunch at Restaurante Ze Manel Dos Ossos. Got there early and so glad. They only have 6 tables in a tight nook, only urinal, kitchen right there. Half portions were intimidating. With meat, red wine, right? I can get used to this.
4pm bus to Alcobaca. 1.5hr ride was much better. Town was dead. Even by the town's mecca, the monastery, was empty. We just decided to come here and I literally booked a room last night. Surprisingly, it was a hotel across from the monastery on the hill. We had a great room overlooking the monastery, score! We took advantage of a few more hours of daylight to scope out the
monastery and around. Monastery is ginormous, housing the largest cathedral in the country. I believe it. Here in Alcobaca, the most important take home point is the love story of King Pedro and Inez.
Meat galore from Sintra was still digesting for both of us and we decided to close the night with dessert at Cafe Alcoa. It wouldn’t be too much to say that we (I) picked this town for Café Alcoa. Apparently, they win awards after awards, year after year for the best of Portugal. They have the best pastel de nata of all of Portugal under their best. There was no way to miss the opportunity to see it for myself. Café is located at the prime location facing the monastery. Inside is a long glass case full of egg yolk concoctions. I had to try’em all but I was able to narrow down to six choices. But no matter how they looked, each of them ended up having that uber sweet yolk paste. Sooo good but I know it’s full of cholesterol :o!! It’s a good thing we were just passing by because I think we met our annual quota of these pastries!!
Tue: 
Francesinha!
Cunha, PortoOn to Lisbon
Back by popular demand (lol), we went back to Cafe Alcoa for the morning coffee and sweets. Plaza was pretty dead. We got the terrace seats directly in front of the majestic monastery. What a luxury. It was overcast today. Before the TI opened, we scoped out the town as much as we could on our own. We stumbled upon through gimmicky jardim do amor (remember Pedro & Inez?). TI person rolled in the office late. She went over the city map but looks like we pretty much covered it all. The only thing we missed was the "castle" on the hilltop. The “castle” was a ruin at best with very little remaining. Alcobaca is a small town, although it has historical/religious significance. They get day-trippers by the bus loads but, other than that, it seemed pretty spotty with people.
I got us the front seat for the 12:30 bus to Lisbon, yay. This ride was smooth 😊. We were eyeing Mercado Ribeira. It’s a new food court fixture put out by Timeout and have gotten a lot of buzz. It’s definitely modern. Food choices were super modern, perhaps too modern with fusion etc. and
$$. Welcome to the metropolis. Since it didn’t make up for the full dinner, we were able to make it to so-called seafood temple, Cervejeria Ramiro. It’s a ginormous place that’s seemingly tight at the entrance. There was a line forming but they have whole another floor of seats to fill. Once seated, they bring you an ipad so we can see the pictures with the menu. And obvious tourists (like us, the couple next to us and the group behind us) can’t decide what to get, waiters waste no time and push for the “trifecta” (prawns, crab & lobster). “It’s the best”. Sure, but no thanks. Their items are not cheap. Of course we picked our own selections that’s hard to get at home, including barnacles and swim crab (??). So many around us were getting the trifecta for who knows how many arms and legs.
Wed: All Lisbon Our lodging, Independente Hostel made the top10 hostel in the WORLD. That’s huge. It’s super modern in a centralized location. It also operated highly-rated restaurant downstairs. They prioritize hostel guests for the dinner reservation. Breakfast is also included. Breakfast was super easy ham and bread, served on a
swanky black flat stone. Let’s see how the dinner will be tonight.
We hit Alfama first. This is the old part of the city with the castle on the hill and cobblestone streets. Walk seemed brutal as we went from one hill to another, west to east, but it wasn’t far at all. Streets around the castle don’t go directly to the castle (for protection…makes sense). Entrance gate is somehow appalling to us. We continued on the cobblestone alleys with laundry-hanging walls. Eventually, we got to Miradouro das portas where we grabbed coffee with an amazing view. At ~11:30, it was time. It was time to make our way to Cantina das Freiras. This one sounded so authentic and we had our hearts set. This eatery operated by the nuns is open only for lunch on the weekdays. I’m expecting some good home cooking! We went through Praca do Comercio, Arco da Rua Augusta and Rua Augusta, the touristiest stretch of the city, on our way.
Just before noon, we arrived at Cantina das Freiras at the least expected location! Hefty wooden door facing a narrow cot-de-sac alley was shut. There was no indication of an eatery but
a little plaque for this establishment. This is getting better!! A little later, an older French couple arrived. They looked like they know this place. They rang the bell and the door unlocked. We followed them to the third floor. There was a mini cafeteria setup where we got our choices from their daily menu. Of course they serve adult beverages too. For a little extra, V got cod cake-ish appetizers with boiled egg in it, yum. This seemingly minimal cafeteria has a café stand too, sweet! Jolly nun brews coffee here. My eyes spotted ginjinha behind the counter. This would be a great way to end this meal, he he. I also grabbed little cookies to go with the drinks. We took this to their amazing outdoor balcony seating. and yummy treats too! hitting all view spots in town but overcast in the afternoon. Belem in the afternoon. Witnessed the frenzy at pasteis de Belem!! The moment of truth...drum roll...to die for!! Crunchy but sturdy case with soft and pleasantly eggy filling. The best. Cafe Alcoa had a hint of liquor in it and the crust was more of a pie dough.
8pm was the earliest we could
reserve at Decadente, the downstairs restaurant. When we got there, there was a line oozing out. Many were told it was going to be hours wait. Crazy. Menu was mixture of a few classic Portuguese dish and many fusion. Waiter came around, ordered wine and appetizers, and thought he’d come back to the take the order. Wrong. He had the nerve to tell us to order the main dishes now because it’s so busy. Really?! A for refined and modern dishes, D for pretentious fanciness.
Thu: Go West ~Sintra, the UNESCO world heritage I read the section on Sintra from page to page. All I can say was that it was going to be swarming with tourists. We were ready with charged up train tickets and picnic food. Bring it! We caught 7:40 train at Rossio and arrived in Sintra by 8:20. No sights were open until 9:30 at the earliest but I we were going to take time and hike up to the Moorish Castle. The walk was unexpectedly beautiful! The entire area is a vast green space. The castle seems intimidatingly high up on the hill but the climb wasn't bad at all. Stones were laid
out to make the trail through the greenery. Stone walls were dressed in green moss near the guard house. So beautiful. I could do this all day! Trail to both Moorish castle and Pena palace ends abruptly by the gates after a split. Moorish castle was going to open in less than 30min but we decided not to wait to get in. They charge you Disneyland price (ok, that's an exaggeration) and there is a huge chance that we'd be disappointed after this gorgeous walk. Instead, we sat on the stone wall and ate our picnic fixings. That was right on our speed 😊. Just when the parks were opening and people were starting to show up on this secluded uphill trail, we descended down. There are parks and the return trip was equally amazing.
Toward the station, crowd has become massive. Endless trail of people were headed upwards. Just as we were reaching the station, I couldn't help but to turn my head toward "the real queijoada...". Curious. What is queijoada? We bought a few tiny tarts and cafes and took it to the cute back room. It's window overlooking the national palace. Queijoada was yummy!!
At
the station, we were looking for the bus to Cabo da Roca, the western-most spot on the continent. Wow! There was a long line leading to the bus stop!! This can't be! Sure enough, they were waiting for the bus to go to the Moorish castle and Pena palace. I had read about the bus making rounds but this many people?? It'd take many buses to haul all of them. As we waited for our bus, line was growing fast. Intercity trains were dumping people faster than the bus rounds. Walking there wasn’t that strenuous and it is so beautiful!! Especially the young and capables.
Within 30min, our bus came. Enough people got on but everyone had the seat. After ~30min on the snail bus, we had the first glimpse of the ocean, woohoo!. Shortly after, we arrived at Cabo da Roca. There was a monument indicating the western-most point but we went away from it to take in the coast. It was a gorgeous day! Suddenly, we were struck with an amazing view opening up! It’s not visible from the monument but over a little hump, you can see the coast leading to the horizon! What a view!!
This was the perfect place to bust out the wine we didn’t get to earlier in Sintra. Cheers!!
From Cabo da Roca, we continued on the bus to Cascais. With the sun beating down, beachy town was fitting and packed. The main street was uninteresting typical touristy beachy strip. It was definitely past the lunch time. We walked in deeper but not enough to escape the touristiness. Even further along the coast, we spotted super touristy-looking restaurant in the cove with grilled sardines on the menu. We still haven’t had the chance to cross that off the list. We were hitting the limit of our hunger…let’s do it! That sardines turned out to be the surprise of the week, wow. So. Good.
From Cascais, Lisbon is a 30min train ride away. Looks like we hit the afternoon rush and the train was pretty packed. We’ve covered much of Lisbon yesterday but there is one place we can venture out to; Mercado de Campo de Ourique. It’s a little out of the way; way west of Principe Real. We got there in-between hours; too early for dinner, too late for lunch. It was pretty empty but most of the
stalls were open. Compared to Ribeira, options were more our speed (i.e. not fusion). We had great marinated octopus and pork. We capped it with the dessert stand which carried sweets from all regions of the country. Can’t beat having them in their respective regions but it was a good way to reminisce 😊.
Fri: Lisbon reinforcement I can’t believe today is the last day in Lisbon. We’ll head tonight to Madrid from where we’ll catch the return flight home tomorrow mid-day. After a successful excursion, we made this day to repeat anything that we liked and to visit Cachilhas across the strait.
Repeat #1: Pasteis de Belem hands down!! So sad that this will be the last chance, sob. From our daily pastel de nata trials, the verdict is in. We both agree that this place nailed this. It’s not just tourist gimmick. Eggy and creamy filling is encased in crunchy layered crust…to die for! Tourists haven’t arrived at this hour and we got to our 4 (yes, 4) tartlets fast, mmm!!
Since the weather has picked up these past few days, we wanted to hit a few top vista points. The best is definitely
Senhora do Monte. Descending through Graca, the next best vista point Miradouro das portas do sol is on the way. As touristic as it may be, grabbing coffee on the terrace is an amazing experience. Sit down with one-euro coffee and admire the view toward the bay and the hills. We killed some time here until Nun’s Canteen opened for lunch. We will miss this place a lot. They didn’t have the cookies we liked at the coffee bar. I even asked for it and the jolly nun lady somehow totally understood where I was coming from. The language of food went beyond spoken language 😊.
Sodre station is not too far from the canteen and the ferry to Cachilhas leaves from there. Ferry was literally just about to leave. After a short ride, we were looking over the Lisbon hills behind the river. Right outside of the ferry dock is jam packed with eateries. A little food card grilling fish was inviting everyone but we must stay disciplined. We knew from our homework that there is an eatery with the seats right against the river! It didn’t seem like it was located in a crowded area so we
walked away from the touristy madness. We passed small piers and it quickly became serene with a few lonely fishing guys. It didn’t look there’d be any restaurant this way. Well, it was a nice stroll along the river anyway. We’ll make a round and return to the center. Suddenly when we turned a corner, there it was!! Actually two restaurants! But our heart was set on Atira-te Ao Rio. We kinda just ate but hey, why not. Grab a glass of wine and take this view in! It was a great seat on a gorgeous day.
Sat: A quick preview of Madrid en-route We got in on a late flight to Madrid. We started early because we have to get to the airport by 11am. We’ll cross the pond from here…sob. Plaza Mayor to Palacio Real, street was eerily quiet, except a FilAm tour group caught up to us at the palace singing Star spangled banner...sigh. I was thinking of a good brunch for the road but, a total failure on my side, not much is open on a weekend morning! We barely managed to pick up 20-euro worth of some authentic Turrones from Casa
Mira. There was an organized bike ride just taking off from Sol. We’ll have to do this town properly some other time. Until then, hasta luego Espana!
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